Kishkumen
Kishkumen, known now as Kishkumen Corpsetaker, was a Dark Lord of the Inner Circle, an alchemist and former right hand to Quinis Asanis. He was killed by Temap, Padawan of Ashin Varanin. In 18 ABY, Arksis Nan summoned his spirit into the body of an Eradicator-class Droid, which was destroyed when Kishkumen turned against Sivter at the Battle of Arcanix. His spirit fled to the interior of the Shadow Temple, where he took the body of a Scholar in the Main Archives. History Asanis Born on Anari Prime, the largely self-taught Kishkumen was a founding member of the Corps of Adepts. He distinguished himself rapidly, earning the First Level both for actions during the Jalyn insurrection and for an incident in which a major assassination effort converged on President Quinis Asanis. At some point he collaborated with unknown members of the Detori in the project that made Detori weapons alchemy practical. He replaced the dead Sira Ves as Asanis' bodyguard, and assisted in the Detori's second great recruitment drive. Later he would be named Director of Intelligence. He was sent to contact an influential, AA-friendly banker during the war with the Sith Empire, and hearing of the Anari defeat while in the field, decided to go rogue rather than launching a futile strike against the SE. Sivter Kishkumen started his own small Dark Side training effort on a secluded low-tech world. Soon enough, however, he attracted the attention of Sivter, whose cultists wiped out Kishkumen's group; Kishkumen then destroyed Sivter's minions. Sivter countered by recruiting Kishkumen into the Cult of Shadow, where he became a part of the Inner Circle. He was also involved with the looting of an ancient Sith temple. Shortly thereafter, he was named a Dark Lord. His own side ventures generate revenue for the Cult as well as his personal accounts. Until some of his men on Kothlis kidnapped Jedi Padawan Ashin Varanin, however, his operations ran completely under the radar. As a result, he suffered perhaps the greatest personal blow of his career. Varanin escaped with the help of Lyn-Char Beorht and Ember Rekali; on his way to dispose of Ketti, the Bothan responsible for the kidnapping, Kishkumen encountered the three Jedi. Lyn held him off while the two Padawans escaped, and when Kishkumen moved to attack he was immobilized with a glop grenade from Lyn's growing bag of tricks. Meanwhile, the shadowy Captain Farn Engel blackmailed the Bothan Ketti, the man responsible for the kidnapping, out of the Kothlis cell's entire operational budget. Aiming for both Engel and the Jedi group, Kishkumen was surprised and pleased to discover that the Jedi were hitching a ride with Engel. He and several Disciples converged on the freighter just before it lifted off. In the confrontation that followed, most of Kishkumen's adepts were defeated, and though he himself beat both Ashin Varanin and Lyn Beorht, they got away. Brembla Kol also earned his enmity in this encounter. A tracking device on Engel's freighter led Kishkumen and his Adepts to the Jade Worlds. Discovering the problems the Shau'ghunate Guard had experienced with Darksiders and pirates, he sent a message to La-Reia Beorht, luring her to the Jade Worlds. His initial plan was to play Reia against Lyn and perhaps weaken them to the point where he and his men could deal with them. Kishkumen also planted one of his adepts in the bodyguard of Admiral Jita Hangetsu, for purposes of framing either Jedi for attacking the Admiral. Once Reia got there, however, Halla Kaijus ordered her detainment. Shortly thereafter, Ember Rekali showed up, and the Disciple assigned to Hangetsu tried to make it seem as though the Padawan had attacked the Admiral. Ember ran - and Ashin was called in. Kishkumen believed that Lyn would follow Reia, Ember would follow Lyn, and Ashin would follow Ember - and Brembla and Engel would be involved somehow. All his targets would be in one place. That was, at least, the plan. What went wrong, nobody knows, and Kishkumen isn't telling. The rumor among cultists is that he was stranded in the Unknown Regions, on a pretechnological world. When he returned, he had shifted his focus from alchemy to pure destruction. He was accepted back by Sivter, and set out for the Jade Worlds again. He was instrumental in helping a group of Dark Side-using escaped convicts against a joint force from the Patriots and Tak Council. One of them, the Dark Master Siriss Cortann, became Kishkumen's lover. Journey to the Warp Only a few months after his return from the Unknown Regions, Kishkumen received intelligence from his sources in the Jade Empire regarding the Extragalactic Star Cluster. Closer to the breach point than to Arcanix, he sent a message to Sivter and recruited a small group from the Cult of Shadow. They made it through the JEAF blockade on the breach point and entered the cluster. Ember Rekali and Brembla Kol pursued them; the hyperspace window closed behind, trapping them inside again. The two ships landed on a habitable world and a protracted war began, a war with only one rule: nobody harms the spaceships. In the course of the war, Kishkumen set about training the other Cultists, intending to re-emerge to the galaxy and tip the balance of the War of Darkness in favor of Sivter. Fifteen years later, Kishkumen and his followers emerged from the Warp, less than three months having elapsed in the outside universe. The Winnowing Kishkumen and the Shistavenan Dark Knight Kilenka were tasked with finding a cache of Sith books and artifacts stolen by a Dark Jedi named Portoris Bol. The mission became a race against several other pursuers; in the process, Kishkumen fought a powerful Sith Witch named Ahkris and killed Portoris Bol. He was finally cornered by Ashin Varanin, Temap and Tamzar Ranox, agreed to a sham arrest, but was outmaneuvered and incapacitated. While the Dark Lord was unconscious, Temap drew his lightsabre and killed him. Kishkumen's body exploded in a cloud of blue energy. Sensing his death, Siriss Cortann immediately volunteered to be the one to avenge him. Traitor Skills *Force Lightning *Chain Lightning *Force Storm *Inorganic alchemy *Pyrokinesis *Combustion *Force Shockwave Kishkumen's Force potential was initially very limited, but with steady discipline and Asanis' teaching, he improved until he was capable of metal alchemy. His sense of danger was always very strong. When Sivter found him on Murdri Ar, he promised to increase Kishkumen's connection to the Force; a promise he kept. Kishkumen quickly became the Cult's greatest alchemist and took a personal hand in the creation of Raii Meriaz's weapons. Over the two years he spent in the Unknown Regions, Kishkumen's focus changed to suit his vision of what the Cult would need. In his absense, Arksis Nan surpassed him in the field of alchemy, and by the time he returned, Kishkumen had focused so much on learning better ways to destroy that he did not begrudge his fellow Dark Lord the honor. A good infiltrator and administrator with extensive knowledge of the Anari Alliance's admittedly sub-par Intelligence organization, he commands vast resources across the galaxy. He is strong in hand-to-hand combat, and with the alchemical lanvarok he carries. He favors Form V: Shien / Djem So. However, when he can he will forgoe actual combat and duel with pure Dun Moch - a verbal, often philosophical, contest of wills. Category:Cult of Shadow